Rick Just's Blog, page 145
November 9, 2020
Bone
Bone is an evocative name. It brings forth images of dusty desert with bleached carcasses of oxen left behind by struggling pioneers.
You may be disappointed to know, though, that Bone, Idaho does not have its roots in immigrant travails or some long-forgotten massacre. It was named after Orin or Orion G. Bone, an early settler. He got there in about 1910.
Mr. Bone thought the place needed a general store, so he moved a schoolhouse building from Birch Creek and started a business called the Bone Store.
If you’ve heard of Bone at all it’s probably because of that store.
The store and post office (1917-1950) eventually acquired a grille and a bar. Patrons tacked hundreds of dollar bills with their names on them on the ceiling for some reason lost in time. Local branding irons were used to burn atmosphere into the wooden walls. It operated until a few years ago when it apparently became a losing proposition.
What drew folks to Bone in the first place? The prospect of operating dry land farms, mostly wheat. They still raise wheat in the area and it is a popular snowmobile destination. If you go to Bone you’ll probably go up through Ammon, just outside of Idaho Falls, but it’s almost directly east of Firth as the crow flies.
It got a brief moment of fame in 1982 when the NBC daytime program Fantasy gave the residents of Bone their “fantasy,” which was a telephone for each of the 23 residents. It’s doubtful this was high on the fantasy list for most people, since telephone service had actually been brought to the community earlier in the year. They were happy to play along with the show, which lasted only a couple of seasons, and accept their free telephones.
Thanks to Julie Braun Williams, who grew up there, for her help on this story.
The early version of the Bone Store was a log building. It was located south of the present building, which is no longer in operation. This picture of a snowcat was probably taken in the 1930s. 
This is a picture of the Otteson home near Bone taken in about 1911 or 1912. From Left is, Lenore, Vern, Ray, Alan, Nephi, Dean, and Golden Otteson. The woman on the far right with the horse is unidentified.
You may be disappointed to know, though, that Bone, Idaho does not have its roots in immigrant travails or some long-forgotten massacre. It was named after Orin or Orion G. Bone, an early settler. He got there in about 1910.
Mr. Bone thought the place needed a general store, so he moved a schoolhouse building from Birch Creek and started a business called the Bone Store.
If you’ve heard of Bone at all it’s probably because of that store.
The store and post office (1917-1950) eventually acquired a grille and a bar. Patrons tacked hundreds of dollar bills with their names on them on the ceiling for some reason lost in time. Local branding irons were used to burn atmosphere into the wooden walls. It operated until a few years ago when it apparently became a losing proposition.
What drew folks to Bone in the first place? The prospect of operating dry land farms, mostly wheat. They still raise wheat in the area and it is a popular snowmobile destination. If you go to Bone you’ll probably go up through Ammon, just outside of Idaho Falls, but it’s almost directly east of Firth as the crow flies.
It got a brief moment of fame in 1982 when the NBC daytime program Fantasy gave the residents of Bone their “fantasy,” which was a telephone for each of the 23 residents. It’s doubtful this was high on the fantasy list for most people, since telephone service had actually been brought to the community earlier in the year. They were happy to play along with the show, which lasted only a couple of seasons, and accept their free telephones.
Thanks to Julie Braun Williams, who grew up there, for her help on this story.
The early version of the Bone Store was a log building. It was located south of the present building, which is no longer in operation. This picture of a snowcat was probably taken in the 1930s. This is a picture of the Otteson home near Bone taken in about 1911 or 1912. From Left is, Lenore, Vern, Ray, Alan, Nephi, Dean, and Golden Otteson. The woman on the far right with the horse is unidentified.
November 8, 2020
Myrtle Enking
Idaho has a long history of women in the position of state treasurer. Julie Ellsworth (R) is Idaho’s current treasurer. Seven have held it previously, including, in reverse order, Lydia Justice Edwards (R), 1987-1998; Marjorie Ruth Moon (D), 1963-1986; Ruth Moon (D) (Marjorie’s mother), 1945-1946, and 1955-1959; Margaret Gilbert (R), 1952-1954; Lela D. Painter (R) (who died in office) 1947-1952; and Myrtle P. Enking (D), 1933-1944.
Enking was Idaho’s first female treasurer and the second female treasurer in the nation. Myrtle Powell graduated from high school in Avon, Illinois in 1898, and came to Idaho in 1909 to take a position as a bookkeeper at the Gooding Mercantile Company. She married William Enking in 1911. He passed away in 1913 leaving Myrtle with a son to raise.
Mrs. Enking was the first librarian of the Gooding Public Library and served as the Gooding County Auditor for 15 years before her successful run for state treasurer. In 1943, UPI Correspondent John Corlett called her “the greatest vote-getter in Idaho history.” There was speculation at that time that she might take on Congressman Henry Dworshak, but she did not. She was known for wearing tall hats, possibly because she stood only four foot eleven inches.
Myrtle Enking passed away in Boise in July, 1972 at the age of 92.
Enking was Idaho’s first female treasurer and the second female treasurer in the nation. Myrtle Powell graduated from high school in Avon, Illinois in 1898, and came to Idaho in 1909 to take a position as a bookkeeper at the Gooding Mercantile Company. She married William Enking in 1911. He passed away in 1913 leaving Myrtle with a son to raise.
Mrs. Enking was the first librarian of the Gooding Public Library and served as the Gooding County Auditor for 15 years before her successful run for state treasurer. In 1943, UPI Correspondent John Corlett called her “the greatest vote-getter in Idaho history.” There was speculation at that time that she might take on Congressman Henry Dworshak, but she did not. She was known for wearing tall hats, possibly because she stood only four foot eleven inches.
Myrtle Enking passed away in Boise in July, 1972 at the age of 92.
November 7, 2020
Do you want fries with that? Tough.
Hudson’s Hamburgers in Coeur d’Alene has been not selling fries with their hamburgers since 1907. And they do okay. You can get cheese on your hamburger, and you can order a pie for dessert. Just no fries.
Harley Hudson came to Coeur d’Alene from Brooklyn in 1905. The other Brooklyn. The one in Iowa. He sawed timber for a living for a couple of years, then thought the area could benefit from a good, basic burger. He built a rickety little stand out of canvas and boards and began selling hamburgers for a dime on the west end of the Idaho Hotel. He sold a lot of them. In 1910 he moved into a space next to the east end of the hotel that allowed him to have a counter and stools for a dozen customers.
When 1917 rolled around—the ten-year anniversary of Hudson’s Hamburgers—Harley had saved up enough money to buy a two-story brick building on the south side of Sherman Avenue, between Second and Third streets. He promptly named it the Hudson Building. The family operated the business from there until 1962 when they leased the spot to J.C. Penney and moved across the street to their present location, 207 E. Sherman Avenue.
Descendants of Harley Hudson still run the joint today. The menu is about the same as it was in 1907: plenty of burgers, no fries. They’ve been doing the burger thing so long and so well that there just isn’t much point in changing their business formulae. They’ve been named one of the top hamburger spots in the West by Sunset Magazine. The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Gourmet Magazine have all featured Hudson’s.
If you’re a history buff—and you probably are, if you’re reading this—stop in and take a look at the framed photos on the walls of big steamers and smaller boats that once plied the nearby waters. Maybe order a hamburger while you’re there.
November 6, 2020
A Famous Name
If you’ve been hanging around Idaho for a few decades paying a little attention to who did what, you’ve run across the name Bowler from time-to-time. There’s Bruce Bowler who was a pioneer conservationist and attorney who pioneered the field of environmental law in Idaho. Drich (short for Aldrich) Bowler was an artist and inventor who hosted the 13-part Idaho Centennial series, produced by Idaho Public Television, "Proceeding on Through a Beautiful Country: A Television History of Idaho." Ned Bowler was a speech/language professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
But this is a story about their brother, Holden. Holden was an athlete, a military man, and a business man. He held a state record for high school track in Idaho, retired as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, ran a Denver ad agency, and taught environmental education. But it was his passion for singing that gave him a couple of interesting connections to noted contemporary figures.
While going to school at the University of Idaho in the early 1930s, Holden met Thomas Collins. They became good friends over the years, and Holden became godfather to Tom’s daughter Judy Collins, the well-known folksinger.
Singing took Holden to sea. He became the headline singer for a cruise line on a cruise to South America. He met a young man named Jerome who was staff on the ship. They became fast friends. The two toured the towns where the cruise ship stopped and shot the breeze. Jerome told Holden he was a writer. He liked Holden’s unusual first name and told him he would probably use it someday in a story.
When Jerome got around to using Holden’s name, the writer was going just by his first initials, J.D. J.D. Salinger. The author of Catcher in the Rye once wrote to Holden Bowler and said about the character who borrowed his name, “what you like about Holden (Caulfield) is taken from you, and what you don't like about him, I made up.”
Holden Bowler passed his passion for singing on to his daughter, Belinda Bowler, who I’ve heard called “Idaho folk music royalty.”
But this is a story about their brother, Holden. Holden was an athlete, a military man, and a business man. He held a state record for high school track in Idaho, retired as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, ran a Denver ad agency, and taught environmental education. But it was his passion for singing that gave him a couple of interesting connections to noted contemporary figures.
While going to school at the University of Idaho in the early 1930s, Holden met Thomas Collins. They became good friends over the years, and Holden became godfather to Tom’s daughter Judy Collins, the well-known folksinger.
Singing took Holden to sea. He became the headline singer for a cruise line on a cruise to South America. He met a young man named Jerome who was staff on the ship. They became fast friends. The two toured the towns where the cruise ship stopped and shot the breeze. Jerome told Holden he was a writer. He liked Holden’s unusual first name and told him he would probably use it someday in a story.
When Jerome got around to using Holden’s name, the writer was going just by his first initials, J.D. J.D. Salinger. The author of Catcher in the Rye once wrote to Holden Bowler and said about the character who borrowed his name, “what you like about Holden (Caulfield) is taken from you, and what you don't like about him, I made up.”
Holden Bowler passed his passion for singing on to his daughter, Belinda Bowler, who I’ve heard called “Idaho folk music royalty.”
November 5, 2020
The Ada County Poor Farm
The Collister Neighborhood in Boise is full of mature trees and lovely homes today. From 1883 to 1916 it was the site of Ada County’s Poor Farm, located about where Cynthia Mann Elementary is today. The first doctor who contracted his services with the Poor Farm was Dr. George Collister. He practiced medicine in Boise for more than 50 years and owned a large orchard about six miles from downtown Boise. The area surrounding his orchard took on his name, as did the neighborhood and the street.
The Ada County Poor Farm was started with the best of intentions. The January 26, 1883 edition of the Idaho Statesman opined that “Some provision must be made for the care of the poor. Our present county hospital system is for the care of the indigent sick, idiotic and insane. The poor, or that class which may be in destitute circumstances, is not included in the hospital contract.”
The county purchased the property for the Poor Farm from John Hailey, owner of the Pioneer Stage Line, and the man for whom Hailey, Idaho was named. The purchase price of the 160 acres was $5,000.
Putting the poor to work, feeding them, and paying them a little money probably worked in some cases. But it soon became a place to send troublesome citizens the county didn’t know what else to do with. Boise’s notorious drunk, “Jimmy the Stiff” Hogan spent time there more than once. His only objection to the place was that there were “too many bums.”
It turned out that not everyone sent to the farm was capable of work and many of them were unhealthy. Over the years the facility became rundown and mostly ignored by a string of superintendents more interested in padding their pockets than helping the poor. The main building became a place to house orphans, the sick, and the senile, something it wasn’t intended for.
In 1915, J.K. White, state sanitary inspector, paid a visit to the Ada County Poor Farm. His recommendation was “to do away entirely with this old dilapidated, germ laden, bug infested building, and the beds and bedding.” He went on to say, “The system of having these feeble old men take care of their own beds, wash their own clothing and take care of themselves, with no one directly in charge to see that they do it, is nothing short of criminal.”
A few months later the county closed the poor farm and purchased a site on Fairview where they constructed a two-story nursing home that was much better designed to care for the needs of the sick and indigent.
The Ada County Poor Farm was started with the best of intentions. The January 26, 1883 edition of the Idaho Statesman opined that “Some provision must be made for the care of the poor. Our present county hospital system is for the care of the indigent sick, idiotic and insane. The poor, or that class which may be in destitute circumstances, is not included in the hospital contract.”
The county purchased the property for the Poor Farm from John Hailey, owner of the Pioneer Stage Line, and the man for whom Hailey, Idaho was named. The purchase price of the 160 acres was $5,000.
Putting the poor to work, feeding them, and paying them a little money probably worked in some cases. But it soon became a place to send troublesome citizens the county didn’t know what else to do with. Boise’s notorious drunk, “Jimmy the Stiff” Hogan spent time there more than once. His only objection to the place was that there were “too many bums.”
It turned out that not everyone sent to the farm was capable of work and many of them were unhealthy. Over the years the facility became rundown and mostly ignored by a string of superintendents more interested in padding their pockets than helping the poor. The main building became a place to house orphans, the sick, and the senile, something it wasn’t intended for.
In 1915, J.K. White, state sanitary inspector, paid a visit to the Ada County Poor Farm. His recommendation was “to do away entirely with this old dilapidated, germ laden, bug infested building, and the beds and bedding.” He went on to say, “The system of having these feeble old men take care of their own beds, wash their own clothing and take care of themselves, with no one directly in charge to see that they do it, is nothing short of criminal.”
A few months later the county closed the poor farm and purchased a site on Fairview where they constructed a two-story nursing home that was much better designed to care for the needs of the sick and indigent.
November 4, 2020
Those Giant Letters
Time for a little audience participation. Get your cameras ready.
Have you ever given any thought to the big letter on the hills above your town? You know, the A above Arco, the B on Table Rock in Boise, the C on the hillside above Cambridge, etc.
According to Wikipedia, there are at least 35 letters on hillsides in Idaho, and maybe as many as 42. Most of them are the first letter of the town’s name, or a letter representing a local high school sports team. Franklin, the first town founded in Idaho Territory, has its big F, but above that are the numerals 1860 for the year it was founded (photo).
Pocatello had a big concrete I on Red Hill representing Idaho State University for many years. It was placed there in 1927. Travelers going south on I-15 knew it as a Pocatello landmark. But in 2014 it was removed because of the risk of a hillside collapse due to heavy erosion. The fear was that the concrete initial might come crashing down on trail users below.
In the book Quintessential Boise, An Architectural Journey *, by Charles Hummel, Tim Woodward, and others, they say the B on Table Rock above the Old Idaho Penitentiary, was placed there in 1931 by Ward Rolfe, Bob Krummes, Kenneth Robertson, and Simeon Coonrood, who were proud graduates of Boise High. As is the case with many such letters, the rocks often get a coat of paint to make them stand out.
Does your town have a letter? Post a picture in the comments section so we can all get a look. Do you have a story that goes along with the letter? An artifact of aliens, perhaps, or the site of your wedding proposal. Please share that, too.
Have you ever given any thought to the big letter on the hills above your town? You know, the A above Arco, the B on Table Rock in Boise, the C on the hillside above Cambridge, etc.
According to Wikipedia, there are at least 35 letters on hillsides in Idaho, and maybe as many as 42. Most of them are the first letter of the town’s name, or a letter representing a local high school sports team. Franklin, the first town founded in Idaho Territory, has its big F, but above that are the numerals 1860 for the year it was founded (photo).
Pocatello had a big concrete I on Red Hill representing Idaho State University for many years. It was placed there in 1927. Travelers going south on I-15 knew it as a Pocatello landmark. But in 2014 it was removed because of the risk of a hillside collapse due to heavy erosion. The fear was that the concrete initial might come crashing down on trail users below.
In the book Quintessential Boise, An Architectural Journey *, by Charles Hummel, Tim Woodward, and others, they say the B on Table Rock above the Old Idaho Penitentiary, was placed there in 1931 by Ward Rolfe, Bob Krummes, Kenneth Robertson, and Simeon Coonrood, who were proud graduates of Boise High. As is the case with many such letters, the rocks often get a coat of paint to make them stand out.
Does your town have a letter? Post a picture in the comments section so we can all get a look. Do you have a story that goes along with the letter? An artifact of aliens, perhaps, or the site of your wedding proposal. Please share that, too.
November 3, 2020
7th Street in Boise
If I were to say that 7th Street was the best-known street in Boise, you’d probably have to pause a minute to think just where that is and why some fool thinks it’s famous. You could find it between 6th and 8th streets, but the signs won’t be any help. They all say Capitol Boulevard.
It wasn’t always so.
Boise architect and president of the Boise Civic Improvement Association, Charles Wayland, first proposed turning 7th Street into a grand entrance boulevard to the City of Boise. That was in 1914. The proposal was almost an afterthought to his larger idea of channeling the Boise River. Wayland envisioned “saddle paths, footpaths, and parkways” following the course of the newly controlled river with residential areas opening up in what had been floodways. Does that sound a little like today’s Boise Greenbelt?
It wasn’t until 1925 that city officials began to get serious about building that grand entrance. That was the year the new Boise Depot was built, dominating the skyline on the bench directly in front of the capitol building. Those striking architectural icons just begged to have a mile-long boulevard between them. New York architects Carrere and Hastings who designed the mission–style depot pushed for a grand promenade to visually and physically connect the two buildings. A municipal bond made it all happen, with the completion of the Capitol Boulevard Bridge in 1931.
Keeping the view down Capitol Boulevard free from intruding buildings, business signs, and a tangle of traffic control devices has been a constant struggle ever since. It’s a struggle that hasn’t always been won (I’m looking at you, US Bank building), but keeping a vigilant eye on what happens on the boulevard is worth doing to preserve the city’s “grand promenade.”
It wasn’t always so.
Boise architect and president of the Boise Civic Improvement Association, Charles Wayland, first proposed turning 7th Street into a grand entrance boulevard to the City of Boise. That was in 1914. The proposal was almost an afterthought to his larger idea of channeling the Boise River. Wayland envisioned “saddle paths, footpaths, and parkways” following the course of the newly controlled river with residential areas opening up in what had been floodways. Does that sound a little like today’s Boise Greenbelt?
It wasn’t until 1925 that city officials began to get serious about building that grand entrance. That was the year the new Boise Depot was built, dominating the skyline on the bench directly in front of the capitol building. Those striking architectural icons just begged to have a mile-long boulevard between them. New York architects Carrere and Hastings who designed the mission–style depot pushed for a grand promenade to visually and physically connect the two buildings. A municipal bond made it all happen, with the completion of the Capitol Boulevard Bridge in 1931.
Keeping the view down Capitol Boulevard free from intruding buildings, business signs, and a tangle of traffic control devices has been a constant struggle ever since. It’s a struggle that hasn’t always been won (I’m looking at you, US Bank building), but keeping a vigilant eye on what happens on the boulevard is worth doing to preserve the city’s “grand promenade.”
November 2, 2020
The 1933 Movie Night Scandal
Three ladies going to a movie with some friends wasn’t something that would typically generate headlines in 1933, but an outing in November of that year caused quite a sensation. Mrs. Southard, Mrs. Boggan and Mrs. Hopper went to see Flying Devils at the Fox Theater, better known today as The Egyptian. Their friends Mr. and Mrs. George Rudd went with them.
To understand the consternation of the citizenry, we need to add some detail to the story. George Rudd was the warden of the Idaho State Penitentiary. Lyda Southard, Marguerite Boggan, and Angela Hopper were women inmates.
Southard, the most notorious of the three, had been convicted of poisoning her husband in 1922. Evidence was building that she had dispatched a string of husbands in a similar fashion. Southard had escaped from prison in 1931 and was recaptured in Denver in 1932.
Boggan had an argument with her husband in Salmon that resulted in a struggle over a gun, which the husband lost, resulting in his demise. She was later pardoned.
Hopper had some notoriety of her own in Boise, though not for murder. Angela Hopper had served as city clerk in Boise for 13 years. Just a few days before movie night she had pled guilty to embezzling more than $50,000 from local improvement districts.
If treating inmates to a night at the movies was shocking, imagine how citizens reacted when they found out Warden Rudd had taken Hopper for a joy ride to Payette the day she was incarcerated. Rudd took Southard, who had already escaped once, to visit her mother in Twin Falls, leaving her unsupervised for hours.
Letting inmates enjoy some free time was apparently common at the prison. They were sometimes allowed to hike along the Boise River, play tennis on the courts at Julia Davis, and have an occasional picnic well outside the walls.
Warden Rudd chalked these special privileges up to simple acts of kindness to the prisoners in hopes of encouraging their rehabilitation. In his defense, none of the instances of beyond-the-walls excursions resulted in an escape during his tenure as a warden.
That tenure was, however, about to end. Rudd had been a state legislator representing Fremont County before being named warden in the spring of 1933. By January of 1934 he was out of a job because of the movie night scandal.
Rudd always felt justified in his actions and many years later in an oral history blamed his loss of the job on coverage by the Idaho Statesman, pointing out that he got terrific support from the Boise Capital News. Most newspapers at that time were blatantly political. The Statesman was a Republican newspaper and the Boise Capital News was Democratic. Rudd was a Democrat.
One might think that a kerfuffle such as the inmate movie night would have killed Rudd’s political career. Nope. The very next year he was putting out feelers about running for secretary of state. He decided not to but did run for lieutenant governor. Rudd lost that one and was defeated in a run for his old house seat in 1934. He was elected Chief Clerk of the Idaho House in 1935 and again in 1937. He ran for an Idaho senate seat in the 40s and won. His last political post came in 1960 when he became a probate judge. George Rudd passed away in 1970.
Lyda Southard, Marguerite Boggan, and Angela Hopper went to a movie and the warden got fired. Photos courtesy of the Idaho State Historical Society.
To understand the consternation of the citizenry, we need to add some detail to the story. George Rudd was the warden of the Idaho State Penitentiary. Lyda Southard, Marguerite Boggan, and Angela Hopper were women inmates.
Southard, the most notorious of the three, had been convicted of poisoning her husband in 1922. Evidence was building that she had dispatched a string of husbands in a similar fashion. Southard had escaped from prison in 1931 and was recaptured in Denver in 1932.
Boggan had an argument with her husband in Salmon that resulted in a struggle over a gun, which the husband lost, resulting in his demise. She was later pardoned.
Hopper had some notoriety of her own in Boise, though not for murder. Angela Hopper had served as city clerk in Boise for 13 years. Just a few days before movie night she had pled guilty to embezzling more than $50,000 from local improvement districts.
If treating inmates to a night at the movies was shocking, imagine how citizens reacted when they found out Warden Rudd had taken Hopper for a joy ride to Payette the day she was incarcerated. Rudd took Southard, who had already escaped once, to visit her mother in Twin Falls, leaving her unsupervised for hours.
Letting inmates enjoy some free time was apparently common at the prison. They were sometimes allowed to hike along the Boise River, play tennis on the courts at Julia Davis, and have an occasional picnic well outside the walls.
Warden Rudd chalked these special privileges up to simple acts of kindness to the prisoners in hopes of encouraging their rehabilitation. In his defense, none of the instances of beyond-the-walls excursions resulted in an escape during his tenure as a warden.
That tenure was, however, about to end. Rudd had been a state legislator representing Fremont County before being named warden in the spring of 1933. By January of 1934 he was out of a job because of the movie night scandal.
Rudd always felt justified in his actions and many years later in an oral history blamed his loss of the job on coverage by the Idaho Statesman, pointing out that he got terrific support from the Boise Capital News. Most newspapers at that time were blatantly political. The Statesman was a Republican newspaper and the Boise Capital News was Democratic. Rudd was a Democrat.
One might think that a kerfuffle such as the inmate movie night would have killed Rudd’s political career. Nope. The very next year he was putting out feelers about running for secretary of state. He decided not to but did run for lieutenant governor. Rudd lost that one and was defeated in a run for his old house seat in 1934. He was elected Chief Clerk of the Idaho House in 1935 and again in 1937. He ran for an Idaho senate seat in the 40s and won. His last political post came in 1960 when he became a probate judge. George Rudd passed away in 1970.
Lyda Southard, Marguerite Boggan, and Angela Hopper went to a movie and the warden got fired. Photos courtesy of the Idaho State Historical Society.
November 1, 2020
A Deadly Explorer
The Corps of Discovery, also known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, travelled through a wilderness making new discoveries, naming plants and animals and mountains and rivers for the first time, and inspiring awe in the primitive people who barely subsisted there. Right?
Well, it was all new to them, but people had operated successful societies in that “unexplored” country for thousands of years. Those plants and animals and mountains and rivers already had names. The people who lived there were interested in the innovations the Corps of Discovery brought with them from pants with pockets to pistols and ammunition. But they probably thought the white men (and one black man) were woefully ignorant when they went hungry with food so easily attainable nearby.
Wilderness? The natives had no such concept. This was no unoccupied frontier. The Mandan villages in what is now North Dakota where the Corps spent the winter of 1804-1805 were more densely populated than St. Louis, according to an essay by Roberta Conner in the 2006 anthology Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes *. The Expedition itself estimated there were 114 tribes living along or near their route.
What they did not report, because they did not know it, was that one newcomer from the Old World had preceded them, devastating the Indian population. According to Charles C. Mann in his book 1491, New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus *, smallpox took out as much as 90 percent of the native population in the Americas. Mark Trahant, a writer with Indian ancestry from Blackfoot, noted in the above-mentioned anthology that a smallpox epidemic swept through Shoshone country around 1780.
Lewis and Clark encountered a considerable civilization on their journey, though one much reduced from what it had been a few generations before.
If you would like to learn more about how the indigenous people of the Americas lived and the impact epidemic had on them, I recommend the books previously mentioned and Guns, Germs, and Steel * by Jared Diamond.
The Charles M. Russell painting, Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia.
Well, it was all new to them, but people had operated successful societies in that “unexplored” country for thousands of years. Those plants and animals and mountains and rivers already had names. The people who lived there were interested in the innovations the Corps of Discovery brought with them from pants with pockets to pistols and ammunition. But they probably thought the white men (and one black man) were woefully ignorant when they went hungry with food so easily attainable nearby.
Wilderness? The natives had no such concept. This was no unoccupied frontier. The Mandan villages in what is now North Dakota where the Corps spent the winter of 1804-1805 were more densely populated than St. Louis, according to an essay by Roberta Conner in the 2006 anthology Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes *. The Expedition itself estimated there were 114 tribes living along or near their route.
What they did not report, because they did not know it, was that one newcomer from the Old World had preceded them, devastating the Indian population. According to Charles C. Mann in his book 1491, New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus *, smallpox took out as much as 90 percent of the native population in the Americas. Mark Trahant, a writer with Indian ancestry from Blackfoot, noted in the above-mentioned anthology that a smallpox epidemic swept through Shoshone country around 1780.
Lewis and Clark encountered a considerable civilization on their journey, though one much reduced from what it had been a few generations before.
If you would like to learn more about how the indigenous people of the Americas lived and the impact epidemic had on them, I recommend the books previously mentioned and Guns, Germs, and Steel * by Jared Diamond.
The Charles M. Russell painting, Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia.
October 31, 2020
Pop Quiz
Below is a little Idaho trivia quiz. If you’ve been following Speaking of Idaho, you might do very well. Caution, it is my job to throw you off the scent. Answers below the picture.
1). Benjamin Waldron is buried in the Malad City Cemetery. What else belonging to Benjamin is buried not far away?
A. His leg.
B. His dog.
C. His arm.
D. His cat.
E. His bicycle.
2). Protest Road in Boise was name after what kind of protest?
A. A mining strike with picketers.
B. A protest for women’s suffrage.
C. A protest about the road’s placement.
D. A protest about the prohibition of alcohol.
E. None of the above.
3). What did Thomas Katseanes ride to victory in a “national” race in 1947 and 1948?
A. A quarter horse.
B. A complete horse, possibly Arabian.
C. An Indian motorcycle.
D. A snowplane.
E. An elk.
4). What is our state shark?
A. The great white.
B. Hammerhead.
C. Tiger shark.
D. Leopard shark.
E. Maybe you’ve notice we don’t have an ocean?? We also don’t have a state shark, but if we did it would probably be the Helicoprion, or buzzsaw shark, fossils of which are fairly common in SE Idaho.
5) What is unusual about the Idaho Falls Post Register?
A. It is Idaho’s oldest newspaper.
B. It began publishing in Blackfoot.
C. It was Idaho’s first electronic newspaper.
D. It began publishing in Firth.
E. It was Idaho’s first free newspaper.
Answers
1, A
2, C
3, D
4, E
5, B
How did you do?
5 right—Why aren’t you writing this blog?
4 right—A true Idaho native, no matter where you’re from.
3 right—Good! Treat yourself to some French fries.
2 right—Okay! Eat more potatoes!
1 right—Meh. You need to read more blog posts.
0 right—Really, you should reconsider your recent relocation.
1). Benjamin Waldron is buried in the Malad City Cemetery. What else belonging to Benjamin is buried not far away?
A. His leg.
B. His dog.
C. His arm.
D. His cat.
E. His bicycle.
2). Protest Road in Boise was name after what kind of protest?
A. A mining strike with picketers.
B. A protest for women’s suffrage.
C. A protest about the road’s placement.
D. A protest about the prohibition of alcohol.
E. None of the above.
3). What did Thomas Katseanes ride to victory in a “national” race in 1947 and 1948?
A. A quarter horse.
B. A complete horse, possibly Arabian.
C. An Indian motorcycle.
D. A snowplane.
E. An elk.
4). What is our state shark?
A. The great white.
B. Hammerhead.
C. Tiger shark.
D. Leopard shark.
E. Maybe you’ve notice we don’t have an ocean?? We also don’t have a state shark, but if we did it would probably be the Helicoprion, or buzzsaw shark, fossils of which are fairly common in SE Idaho.
5) What is unusual about the Idaho Falls Post Register?
A. It is Idaho’s oldest newspaper.
B. It began publishing in Blackfoot.
C. It was Idaho’s first electronic newspaper.
D. It began publishing in Firth.
E. It was Idaho’s first free newspaper.
Answers1, A
2, C
3, D
4, E
5, B
How did you do?
5 right—Why aren’t you writing this blog?
4 right—A true Idaho native, no matter where you’re from.
3 right—Good! Treat yourself to some French fries.
2 right—Okay! Eat more potatoes!
1 right—Meh. You need to read more blog posts.
0 right—Really, you should reconsider your recent relocation.
